Apparatus for treating fibrous materials



June 12, 1962 R. MARCHFELDER 3,038,671

APPARATUS FOR TREATING FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed Feb. 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl 6.2 OUT 62 ea :r 1

INVENTOR. fi/clmrd March/e10 er June 12, 1962 R. MARCHFELDER APPARATUS FOR TREATING FIBROUS MATERIALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 2, 1960 FIG.5

INVENTOR. fi/ chard Marqfelder tions thereof is identical.

United States Patent 3,03 8 ,67 1 APPARATUS FGR TREATING FIBROUS MATERIALS Richard Marchfelder, Greenwich, Conn. Filed Feb. 2, 1%0, Ser. No. 6,182 Claims. ((11. 241-120) The present invention relates to a new and novel apparatus for comminuting materials, and preferably for treating fibrous materials, and more particularly for treating materials such as are commonly employed in producing a pulp stock in the paper making art.

The treating as involved according to the present invention actually amounts to a mechanical working of the fibers and may deal with various specific treatments thereof such as reducing, beating, pulping, hydrating, fibrillating and the like. This invention represents an improvement over prior art apparatus such as shown for example in U. S. Patent No. 2,719,463.

The above-mentioned prior art patent is representative of the type of structures which have been employed for a similar purpose but which have proved to be unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. These type of treating machines generally employ a hollow casing within which one or more rollers extends, the material to be treated being compressed'between the rollers and the inner surface of the hollow casing during normal operation of the apparatus.

The primary drawback of this type of prior art apparatus is the fact that a uniform compression and physical action on the processed material is not obtained. This is due to the fact that such prior art structures are so constructed that the cylinder rests on aroll which is mounted inside of the cylinder and supported by fixed bearings which are mounted to the frame. To prevent the cylinder from swinging, guide rollers are provided along the outside face of the cylinder, but no means are provided to prevent the cylinder from bouncing up and down on the supporting roll. As a result, if chips of wood are being treated, for example, a relatively large chip may lift the outer casing away from a roller thereby permitting smaller chips to pass between the casing and the roller without receiving any compression. Accordingly, uneven compression is applied to various wood chips producing a non-uniform product.

Another shortcoming of such prior art structures is the fact that an effective control of the pressure between the rollers and the casing can not be obtained. This also contributes to a non-uniform treatment of the precessed material. In addition, the desired manner of treating the material may vary from one application to another such that it may be desirable to alter the relative speed of the casing withrespect to the rollers. For example, in some cases, it is advantageous to move the casing and the'rollers such that the linear velocity of adjacent por- In other cases, it is advantageous to have the rollers and the casing moving at different linear velocities to obtain a different type of action on the processed material. In prior art structures, this relative adjustment of the linear velocities of the casing and rollers can not be obtained.

An additional disadvantage of the above-described prior art structuresis the fact that when empty, the heavy casing rests directly upon one of the rollers of the apparatus, thereby providing a very undesirable metal to metal contact which particularly when starting up the apparatus produces excessive wear and furthermore requires an excessive amount of power for driving the apparatus.

In addition to the normal treatment obtained by the action between the casing and the rollers, it is often desirable to provide a further refining means at the outlet the desired treatment.

end of the casing to generally change the characteristic of the fiber pattern before the stock is discharged from the apparatus. The desired additional refining is not obtained with such prior art devices.

The present invention successfully overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art in the provision of a novel structure which operates in agreatly improved manner. In the present invention, the hollow casing is journaled for rotation about the longitudinal axes thereof by a first bearing means. A pair of roller members extends through the casing and projects beyond the opposite ends thereof, and the opposite ends of each roller are journaled'within independent bearings mounted within arm members. Accordingly, the casing is independently journaled from the roller member and does not rely upon the rollers at all for support.

Each of the arms supporting the rollers is pivotally mounted at a lower end thereof and adjacent arms are connected at the upper ends thereof to a suitable fluid or air operated mechanism for pivotally moving the arms about the pivot axes thereof. This fluid or air operated mechanism is adapted to move the arms such that the rollers are carried toward and away from the inner surface of the casing. i

In order to insure that there is no metal to metal contact between the rollers and the casing, limit stop means for engaging the arms to limit pivotal movement thereof is provided such that the rollers will not come into contact with the inner surface of the casing. Furthermore, the resilient actuating means connected with the arms provides a means for positively adjustably controlling the pressure between the rollers and the cylinder, and since the cylinder and rollers are independently journaled, a uniform compression and physical action on the processed material is insured. A drive means is connected with the casing and the rollers, this drive means being adjustable such that the relative speeds of the casing and the rollers may be selectively adjusted. This permits the linear speeds of the casing and rollers to be varied in accordance with the desired treating action.

A feed means is in communication with an inlet end portion of the casing and additional means is provided for advancing the treated material within the casing. Disposed adjacent the outlet of the ca'sing'is a novel refining means which further treats the material as it passes outwardly of the casing. This novel refining means incorporates several important features. Connected with the casing is a flange defining a first operating face which cooperates with a second operating face formed on a fixed member. The fixed member is normally biased toward the rotatable casing such that the two operating faces are urged into adjacent relationship. Grooves are formed on the adjacent faces with the grooves in one face being'at an angle to the grooves on the other face. The angle of the grooves is such that the treated stock is moved toward the outside with a rolling action such that the fibers Will be more or less twisted and curled by the combined action of the cooperating faces to effect In addition, the two faces are tapered toward one another to provide a wedging action as the stock moves outwardly. A further feature is the provision of combined scraper and fan members which assist in moving the treated stock toward the discharge 5 outlet of the apparatus.

processed material.

Another object is the provision of apparatus for treating fibrous materials which incorporates a means for selectively adjusting the pressure between the rollers and the casing from a remote location.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for treating fibrous materials wherein the relative speeds of the rollers and easing may be adjusted to provide either the same linear speed or a pre-determined differential in linear speed.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of apparatus for treating fibrous materials which eliminates all metal to metal contact between the rollers and the associated casing.

A still further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for treating fibrous materials which is adapted to provide a processed material and obtain finer particles after the material has been compressed between the rollers and the casing.

Other objects and many attendant advantages of the invention will become more apparent when considered with the specification and accompanying drawings, wherem:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the structure shown in FIG. 3 partially broken away; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of the fixed member of the refining means.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a support means which may be a suitable framework upon which a pair of spaced roller bearings 11 and 12 are mounted, roller bearings 11 and 12 being substantially annular, and a hollow substantially cylindrical casing 13 being rotatably supported by the inner races of the two bearings. These bearings may be mounted in a firm resilient mounting such as cork to absorb the vibrations which may occur during operation and to reduce the noise level.

Casing 13 is open at the opposite end portions thereof and is provided with an integral ring gear 15 formed on the outer surface thereof adjacent the inlet end portion. An outwardly flaring flange 16 is formed at the opposite or discharge end of the casing and will be more fully described hereinafter.

A casing indicated generally by reference numeral 20 is provided for enclosing the apparatus, casing 20 including a first end wall 21 disposed adjacent the inlet end portion of the casing and an opposite end wall 22 is spaced from the outlet end portion of the casing, An inlet or feed conduit 25 extends downwardly and is provided with a lower Wall 26 which projects inwardly into the inlet end of the casing for feeding treated material into the casing. A double feed screw indicated by reference numeral 27 is provided for positively'feeding the treated material into the interior of the casing, feed screw 27 being driven by a pair of shafts 28 which project outwardly through bearing member 29 and are provided with pinions 30 on the outer ends thereof. Pinions 30 mesh with a pinion 31 drivingly connected to an electric motor 32 whereby during operation the motor drives the double feed screw to insure positive feed into the casing.

A screw conveyor 35 is disposed within the lower portion of the casing and is dimensioned such that it is positioned closely adjacent thereto for moving the material toward the discharge end of the casing during operation. Screw conveyor 35 is mounted upon a shaft 36, shaft 36 being supported within suitable bearings 37 and 38 mounted on opposite end walls 21 and 22 respectively of housing 20. A pinion 40 is fixed to the outer end of shaft 36 and meshes with a pinion 41 drivingly connected to an electric motor 42 whereby screw conveyor 35 is normally continuously driven during operation of the apparatus. It is evident that the speeds of electric motors 32 and 42 may be adjusted as desired for controlling the rate of feed of the stock to be treated through the apparatus. A pair of similar rollers 45 are provided, each of rollers 45 having a substantially cylindrical central portion disposed within the cylindrical casing 13 and including tapered portions 46 at the opposite ends thereof which are of substantially frustoconical configuration and terminate in stub shaft portions 47 and 48 projecting from opposite ends of each roller. As seen in FIG. 2, the stub shafts 48 of the two rollers 45 are journaled within suitable bearings 50 and 51 supported at an intermediate portion of arms 52 and 53 respectively. The lower ends of arms 52 and 53 are pivotally supported about axes 54 and 55 respectively to a suitable base support member 56,

The upper end of arm 53 is pivotally connected at to a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 61 which is suitably supported from casing portion 20. The upper end of arm 52 is pivotally connected at a point 62 to a piston rod 63 which in turn is connected to a piston 64 which is slidably positioned within hydraulic cylinder 61. Conduits 65 and 66 provide communication with the interior of the hydraulic cylinder on opposite sides of the piston and are connected with a conventional two-way valve and a source of fluid or air under pressure (not shown) such that piston 64 may be selectively actuated in hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 61 in a well-known manner.

The arrangement for supporting the rollers at the righthand portion of the appaartus as seen'in FIG. 1 has been described, and it should be understood that the apparatus disposed at the lefthand portion of FIG. 1 for supporting the rollers is of substantially identical construction. The stub shaft portions 47 are journaled in bearings 69 carried by a pair of arms 70, only one of which is visible in FIG. 1. Arms 70 are formed similar to arms 52 and 53, arms 70 being pivoted at points 71 to a base supporting member 72. The upper end of the arm 70 which is visible in FIG. 1 is connected at 73 to a hydraulic cylinder 75, and the opposite arm 70 which is not shown in FIG. 1 is pivotally connected at its upper end to a piston rod similar to the manner in which arm 52 is connected to piston rod 63 as seen in FIG. 2. It is accordingly evident that the opposite ends of the rollers are rotatably journaled in bearings which are supported on arms, the arms being mounted for pivotal movement in accordance with actuation of fluid or air operated means connected to the upper ends of the arms. The hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders at opposite ends of the casing are preferably connected to a common valve means and supply source such that they are simultaneously operated whereby uniform movement of the rollers Will be obtained upon actuation of the hydraulic apparatus. It is apparent that by varying the amount of pressure within the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, the force urging the rollers outwardly toward the casing may be adjusted to thereby adjust the compression exerted upon material as it passes between the rollers and the casing.

Four identical adjusting screws are threadedly mounted in brackets 81 supported from the framework of the structure, screws 80 being so positioned that they are adapted to engage associated arms 52, 53 and 70 upon pivotal movement of the arms in an outward direction. Each of these screws is adjusted such that they will engage the associated arms to limit outward movement of the arms to such an extent that when the arm is engaged with an associated screw, the rollers supported by the arms will be provided with a clearance with respect to the inner surface of the casing. In this manner, the adjusting screws 80 insure that the rollers will never form a metal to metal contact with the inner surface of the casing thereby reducing the amount of wear and power required.

An alternative method of preventing excessive wear between the rollers and the casing is to provide each roller with a groove adjacent the opposite end portions of the central cylindrical part thereof with a wear ring mounted within these grooves, the wear ring being made of a soft material such as brass, plastic and the like, the wear ring being provided with an outer diameter slightly greater than the outer diameter of the roller.

It will be noted in FIG. 1 that the outer surfaces of rollers 45 are provided with grooves 45 which are generally arcute in configuration and extend longitudinally of the rollers. Cooperating grooves 13 are formed on the inner surface of casing 13, these grooves also being substantially arcuate in configuration and extending longitudinally of the casing. The grooves on the rollers and the casing are so arranged that the grooves on the rollers will be at an angle to the adjacent grooves in the casing during operation.

A driving means indicated generally by reference numeral 85 is suitably supported adjacent one end of the apparatus and is provided with a pair of drive shafts as and 87. Drive shaft '86 is connected with a pinion 00 which meshes with a pair of similar pinions 91 mounted on the outer ends of stub shaft portions 47 of the rollers whereby rotation of drive shaft 86 causes rotation of the two rollers in the direction of the arrows shown in FIG. 2 during operation of the apparatus. Drive shaft 87 is connected with a pinion 92 which meshes with the ring gear formed on the outer surface of casing 13 for driving casing 13 in the direction of the arrow as indicated in FIG. 2. Drive means 85 may be of a conventional type sold under the tradename Cycle-Drive distributed by the Ore and Chemical Corporation of New York, or similar diiferential drives. This type of drive mechanism includes a gear changing arrangement whereby the relative speeds of drive shafts 8 6 and 87 may be selectively varied. This permits the selective adjustment of the relative speeds of rollers 45 and casing 13 whereby they may be driven such that the linear speed of the groove surfaces thereof are the same or the relative linear speeds between these surfaces may be varied as desired. Thus, the casing or drum 13 and the rollers 45 may be driven at a controlled speed differential between them, for pro ducing a special refining action. In this way, it is possible to put the stock under very high compression and then to subject it to shear forces while under compression.

As seen in FIG. 1, an intermediate wall 95 defines with end wall 22 of the casing a discharge outlet indicated by reference numeral 96 through which the treated material is adapted to be discharged into a suitable collecting means.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-5, the refining mechanism supported at the discharge end portion of the casing is illustrated. The casing itself is provided with an outwardly extending flange 1:6 as mentioned previously, and radially extending blade members 100 are formed Hill spaced circumferential points along the outer surface of flange 16. These blade members 100 serve to scrape the stock away from the inner surface of the adjacent wall of the casing, and in addition, these blades serve as fan members when the casing is rotating to produce an air pressure which cushions the outward flow of the treated material and further produces a pressure tending to move the treated material toward the discharge outlet.

As seen most clearly in the cut-away portion of FIG. 4, the face portion 101 of flange 16 is provided with a plurality of grooves 102 which extend at an angle to a radial direction. These grooves are formed throughout the circumference of face 101.

A fixed member 105 is provided with a sloping flange portion 106 having a face 107 formed thereon which is normally disposed closely adjacent face 101. As seen most clearly in FIG. 5, face 107' is provided with a plurality of grooves 108 which also extend at an angle to a radial direction, the slope of grooves 108 being such that they extend almost normally to the grooves 102 provided in face 101 as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 4-. Additionally, substantially parallel circumferentiall-y extending grooves 110 are provided in face 107.

Three spaced pins 115 extend outwardly from fixed member and are provided with an integral radially extending shoulder 116. These pins extend through cylindrical casings 117 supported by end wall 22 of the casing and project outwardly, a collar 118 being pinned to the outer end of pins 115. A substantially cup-shaped member 120 is loosely mounted upon each of pins and is provided with internal screw threads 121 which are threadedly engaged with external screw threads formed on cylindrical casings 117. A compression spring 122 is disposed between cup-shaped members and the shoulders 116 formed on pins 115. It will be apparent that springs 12 2 normally urge the pins inwardly such that member 105 is biased toward the rotating casing. It should be understood that when member 105 is defined as being fixed, it is intended to denote that it is fixed against rotation although it is movable axially with respect to the casing. Movement of cup-shaped members 120 is adapted to adjust the compression of springs 122 to adjust the force urging the member 105 toward the casing. It is apparent that springs 12 2 will also permit member 105 to move outwardly in case stock should build up or foreign matter should be trapped between the opposing faces 101 and 107. In order to facilitate stock distribution, the lower portion of fixed member 105 is provide-d with a pocket 125 which may be most clearly seen in FIG. 5. The parallel grooves 110 disposed between the lower portion of pocket 125 and the bottom of member 105 prevents the treated material from bypassing the refining.

An additional important feature is the fact that the face angles of faces 101 and 107 are different, the face angle of face 107 being steeper whereby a space is defined between these faces having a substantially V-shaped cross-sectional configuration. This construction causes the stock to be wedged between the faces by centrifugal force to assist in obtaining the desired treating action.

During operation, treated material will be fed into inlet conduit 25 whereupon feed conveyor 27 will move the material into the interior of the casing. The material will then be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force to form a relatively thin layer on the inner surface of the casing, and the material will be compressed between rollers 45 and the inner surface of the casing while being acted upon by the grooves formed in the rollers and the casing. The material will be continuously advanced along the casing by feed conveyor 35 and will finally be moved intothe pocket 125 of member 105 and between the working faces 101 and 107. The grooves 102 formed in face 101 transport the treated material toward the outer periphery of the apparatus, and since the grooves 108 formed in member 105 are disposed substantially normally to grooves 102, the treated material rolls along the grooves and eventually passes outwardly between the flange portion 16 formed on the casing and the fixed member 105. The treated material then is moved to the discharge outlet. The relative speeds of the rollers and easing may be adjusted by varying the drive mechanism 85, and furthermore, the pressure applied between the rollers and the casing may be controlled by altering the fluid or air pressure in the cylinders connected to the arms which support the rollers.

It is apparent from the foregoing that there is provided a new and novel apparatus for treating fibrous materials which provides a uniform physical action on the processed material and which provides a means for selectively adjusting the pressure between the rollers and the casing from a remote position. The relative linear speeds of the adjacent surf-aces of the rollers and the casing can be controlled as desired, and all metal to metal contact between the rollers and the casing is eliminated. in addition, means is provided for refining the particles at the discharge end of the casing in a novel and efiicient manner. The apparatus is also quite simple and inexpensive in construction and yet is efficient and reliable in operation.

Also, the invention provides for a maximum of operational flexibility, inasmuch as the pressure to be maintained in the pneumatic cylinders can be varied without stoppage of the machine, and even by remote control. Also, from gauge pressure indications derived from the cylinders, the performance of the machine and of the pulping operation can be closely observed and recorded, and thus be accurately repeated and controlled. Moreover, the pressures in the respective cylinders are individually controllable, so that it is thereby possible to cushion the impact upon the material at one end, while intensifying the pressure at the opposite end of the rollers, depending upon the characteristics of the material being treated. The use of air as a pressure medium in the cylinders as distinct from non-compressible fluid provides extra cushioning against shocks from the comminuting operation.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, and since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooper-ative equivalents are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the continuous treatment of fibrous pulp material, comprising a cylindrical open-ended casing of substantial length having an inner pulp treating surface and an inlet end and an outlet end, with means for continuously feeding pulp material into said pulp inlet end, bearing means at the outer periphery of said casing supporting the same for rotation about a fixed horizontal axis; drive means for rotating said casing; a pair of pressure rollers located opposite to each other cooperating with said inner pulp treating surface when said casing rotates so that pulp held centrifugally thereon will pass between said inner surface and said pressure rollers; a pair of first bearing means located at said inlet end of the casing for supporting the adjacent ends of respective pressure rollers relative to said inner pulp treating surface so as to be movable transversely of the horizontal axis of said casing along predetermined opposite paths together with fluidpressure operated means for yieldably outwardly urging said first bearing means away from each other; a pair of second bearing means located at said outlet end of the casing for supporting the respective opposite ends of said pressure rollers relative to said inner pulp treating surface and so as to be movable transversely of the horizontal axis of said casing along respective paths substantially parallel to those above mentioned, together with fluid-pressure operated means for outwardly urging said second bearing means away from each other; control means adjustable for varying the pressure of the fluid medium in the pressure actuated means and operable for modifying the pulp treatment while the casing is rotating in said bearing means; a conveyor screw also cooperating with said inner pulp treating surface and located peripherally intermediate said pressure rollers and rotatable for continuously moving centn'fugally retained pulp from said inlet end to said outlet end, whereby the pulp is repeatedly seized and compressed by said pressure rollers and progressively reduced incident to its movement from said inlet end to said outlet end by said conveyor screw; drive means for rotating said conveyor screw; and drive means other than the aforementioned drive means for rotating at least one of said pressure rollers.

2. The pulp treating apparatus according to claim 1, with the addition of adjustable stop means for limiting the outward movement respectively of said first and said second bearing means away from. said horizontal axis.

3. The pulp treating apparatus according to claim 1, with the addition of pulp refining means at the outlet end of said casing, comprising a conically flaring annular refiner section constituting the outlet terminal portion of said casing and having an inwardly facing frusto-conical refiner surface, and a complementary frusto-conical refiner member having an outwardly facing frusto-conical refiner surface, cooperating with said inwardly facing refiner surface and means for operatively supporting said complementary refiner member nonrotatably relative to said inner refiner surface so that the two refiner surfaces will rotate relative to each other incident to the rotation of said casing.

4. The pulp treating apparatus according to claim 3, with the addition of mounting means providing for resilient axial outward yielding of said nonrotatable frustoconical refiner member relative to said rotating refiner surface.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first and said second pair of bearings each comprise a pair of supporting arms each mounted for swinging in a plane traversal of said axis of the casing and each arm having an intermediate portion wherein the respective end of a respective roller is mounted for rotation, and wherein the respective fluid pressure operated means are associated with respective free ends of said swingable arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,750,088 Bragard Mar. 11, 1930 2,138,715 Thorsen Nov. 29, 1938 2,274,502 Piper Feb. 24, 1942 2,734,685 Saito Feb. 14, 1956 2,909,330 Hardinge Oct. 20, 1959 2,950,064 Haug Aug. 23, 1960 

